The development of active locomotion approaches for endoscopic capsules - as opposed to the passive traversal of the gastrointestinal tract by natural peristalsis, which is the current clinical practice - is expected to significantly enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic functionalities of these devices. Exploitation of external magnetic fields as locomotion strategy currently represents the most promising approach for the active guidance of endoscopic capsules. In addition, the potential of using
vibrations to reduce the friction between the capsule and the gastrointestinal tissue is currently under investigation. Towards this end, a prototype has been developed, which integrates permanent magnets with a vibrating motor and a triaxial accelerometer, along with an electronic module allowing remote
control of the motor and wireless transmission of the inertial data to a host PC. Ex-vivo tests confirmed both the efficacy of vibrations for reducing friction, and the adequacy of the inertial sensing scheme in capturing the characteristics of the capsule vibrations. These findings could be exploited for the on-thefly
adjustment of the vibratory motor frequency, based on the accelerometer data, in order to adaptively minimize the capsule friction during the entire endoscopic procedure.

The development of active locomotion approaches for endoscopic capsules - as opposed to the passive traversal of the gastrointestinal tract by natural peristalsis, which is the current clinical practice - is expected to significantly enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic functionalities of these devices. Exploitation of external magnetic fields as locomotion strategy currently represents the most promising approach for the active guidance of endoscopic capsules. In addition, the potential of using
vibrations to reduce the friction between the capsule and the gastrointestinal tissue is currently under investigation. Towards this end, a prototype has been developed, which integrates permanent magnets with a vibrating motor and a triaxial accelerometer, along with an electronic module allowing remote
control of the motor and wireless transmission of the inertial data to a host PC. Ex-vivo tests confirmed both the efficacy of vibrations for reducing friction, and the adequacy of the inertial sensing scheme in capturing the characteristics of the capsule vibrations. These findings could be exploited for the on-thefly
adjustment of the vibratory motor frequency, based on the accelerometer data, in order to adaptively minimize the capsule friction during the entire endoscopic procedure.